Canucks vs. Avalanche: The best player prop bets for March 23

The Colorado Avalanche’s quest for the President’s Trophy continues on Wednesday night when they host the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena.

The Avs have won four in a row, and are 6-3-1 in March. They’re a significant favorite over the Canucks, who have lost five of their last six overall, and are slowly but surely sinking out of the playoff picture.

We scoured the player props market for this matchup and came up with our top three selections, which we present below.

Vancouver Canucks (30-26-8) at Colorado Avalanche (45-13-5), 9:30 p.m. ET

Quinn Hughes to score at least one point

Quinn Hughes is one of the few Vancouver skaters who can claim to have been a reliable producer of points all season long. He should add his name to the scoresheet before this matchup is through.

Hughes has scored at least one point in seven of his first nine games this month. Five of those 10 tallies have come on the power play, and if Colorado has one weakness, it’s the penalty kill. The Avalanche are a mediocre 17th in penalty kill percentage (81.8%) this season.

NHL pick: Yes (-148)

Nathan MacKinnon goal scorer

Nathan MacKinnon has had a deft scoring touch for the Avs since the calendar flipped to February. His goal-scoring run should continue on Wednesday night.

MacKinnon has 13 goals over his last 16 games, failing to score on only five occasions. In one of those games, he uncharacteristically took zero shots on goal, instead dishing out three assists in a 5-3 win over the Sharks on Friday night.

Assuming he’s not out to play “decoy” in this one, MacKinnon should do what he does best; shoot and score. He leads Colorado in shots (231) despite missing 15 games this year, and takes on a Vancouver defense that allows 31.8 shots per game, 19th in the league.

NHL pick: MacKinnon anytime goal (+130)

Mikko Rantanen to score at least two points

Mikko Rantanen has been on a incredible tear for the Avalanche, and bettors should expect it to continue in this spot.

Rantanen has scored exactly two points in four consecutive games. He’s reached that mark five times in the month of March, and has multiple points in eight of his last 18 home games.

Rantanen has been particularly effective on the power play, notching 29 of his 75 points this season on the man advantage. He should be able to exploit the Canucks’ league-worst penalty-killing unit (73.6%) here.

NHL pick: Yes (+175)